French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, Napa Valley
French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, Napa Valley.
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Two men have been charged with transporting stolen fine wines worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, including those taken from California's French Laundry restaurant in a Christmas Day heist.

Almost 16 months to the day since burglars helped themselves to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Screaming Eagle wines in the French Laundry’s cellars, two men have been indicted for transporting some of the bottles.

The pair are alleged to have helped transport ‘high-end wines’ following three specific burglaries.

Those thefts include 100 bottles stolen from French Laundry in Yountville, Napa, another 39 wines stolen from Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino and 142 bottles taken from a San Francisco wine merchant.

Napa detectives recovered 76 of the stolen French Laundry wines in a warehouse in North Carolina, a month after the burglary.

Georgis and Kiryakoz could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, plus an order to compensate victims, if convicted of two counts of transporting stolen goods and one count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods.

However, the Attorney General’s office for northern California stressed that nothing has been proved. ‘An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,’ it said.

Jacques Selosse

Jacques Selosse
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

€300k of Champagne stolen in Jacques Selosse raid

More than three and a half thousand bottles of Champagne bottles worth €300,000 have been stolen from acclaimed grower Jacques

wine theft, clare valley, australian wine

CCTV footage believed to show burglars stealing wine in Clare Valley, released by South Australia police.
(Image credit: South Australia Police)

Australian wine burglars caught on CCTV

Le Havre port

Le Havre port, where the DRC wines went missing
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Hundreds of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wines stolen at French port

Domaine Garon, Côte Rotie wines

Domaine Garon had 1,800 bottles of Côte Rotie wines stolen.
(Image credit: Domaine Garon)

Stolen Côte Rotie wine found in hidden cellar

A cache of stolen Côte Rotie wines has been discovered in a hidden cellar only a little further down the

Michel-Jack Chasseuil

Michel-Jack Chasseuil
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Top French wine collector held at gunpoint

One of France's biggest wine collectors has had a lucky escape after gunmen held him hostage and demanded access to

Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.